This invention relates generally to a golf practice device and, more particularly, to a golf practice device for indicating whether a golfer is making an inside/out swing or an outside/in swing when addressing a golf ball.
After being struck by a golf club, both the accuracy and distance of flight experienced by a golf ball is highly influenced by the orientation of the club head during impact. Accuracy and distance of ball flight are enhanced by a golf swing in which upon impact with a ball a club head is moving on an inside/out path with respect to a target line; i.e. an imaginary line between the ball and the pin objective. Such a swing generates for the struck ball a right to left overspin that brings the struck ball back onto the target line as the ball spins through the air. In addition, the overspin enables the ball to cut through the air in a manner that both lengthens flight and the roll experienced after the ball reaches the ground.
Many golf practice devices have been disclosed for indicating the manner in which a simulated golf ball is struck by the face of a golf club. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,401,941; 3,721,447; 3,870,316; 4,149,726; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,173. Each of these patents discloses a system in which a simulated golf ball adheres to an adhesive textile insert applied to the face of the golf club. However, the systems disclosed in each of these patents indicates only the position on a club face that is impacted by a struck ball. The precise location of club face impact fails to indicate the direction in which the golf club head is moving at the time of impact. None of the disclosed patents discloses a technique for analyzing swing direction by indicating the relative position on a golf ball that is impacted by the face of a golf club.
The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved golf practice device that will indicate the direction of movement experienced by the head of a golf club as it impacts a simulated golf ball.